Research

Griffin & Howe is pleased to make available the sales records of Von Lengerke & Detmold and Abercrombie & Fitch, two legendary purveyors of sporting arms in the 20th century. The records exist in over sixty very large ledger books recording sales and inventory between 1900 and 1977. The sales between 1900 and 1929 represent the sales of Von Lengerke & Detmold which was purchased by Abercrombie & Fitch in 1929. The Abercrombie & Fitch sales and inventory records begin in 1929 and continue through the closing of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1977. Most of the entries are for ‘new’ sales, although several thousand used and consigned sporting firearms passed through their inventory as well. Most of the ‘new’ sales are grouped by Make and Model and an inventory of sporting firearms began on February 1st of each year. Griffin & Howe is involved in an ongoing project to digitally record each page in the record books and index the Makes, Models and Serial Numbers.

To discover if your sporting firearm is listed in the records, click on the Make of the sporting firearm in the list below. Then enter your serial number and model if needed or search the list of complete serial numbers for each Make. Additional Makes and serial numbers will be added as the project progresses. If you discover that your sporting firearm is in the records, Griffin & Howe will be happy to verify the model, if applicable, and the date when the sporting firearm was first entered into inventory. Please send an email request to research@griffinhowe.com or call Griffin & Howe at +1.908.766.2287.

Griffin & Howe will also provide a Certificate of Inventory and Disposition and a photograph of the original page(s) on which your sporting firearm appears. The information on the certificate will vary depending on the year in which the sporting firearm was in inventory. The cost of this service is $60 per sporting firearm but may be more or less depending upon the amount of information in the record. For a more detailed description of the records and to see sample pages please click here – Sample Pages.